In metropolitan areas, traffic congestion remains a major problem. The Texas Transportation Institute reports that, in 2005, the annual delay experienced by a traveler during peak times in the Los Angeles area is 72 hours and 46% of the delay is caused by incidents including car accidents and construction. As a result, the increased fuel consumption due to travel in congested conditions rather than in free-flow conditions is 57 gallons per peak traveler in 2005.
A main contributing factor of traffic congestion is that the traveler is not properly informed of the traffic conditions prior to embarking on his daily commute. Drivers primarily rely on radio and television reports for information on traffic conditions. The main shortcomings of these traditional sources of information include (i) the delayed reporting of traffic congestion due to accidents and disabled vehicles and (ii) the reporting of traffic conditions on routes which are irrelevant to the driver.
Today, commuters may also turn to the Internet to obtain up-to-date traffic information and estimated commute time. Numerous websites on the Internet (e.g., www.SigAlert.com) allow the user to view the current traffic conditions on the freeways including the speed of travel and the location and time of accidents. Other websites (e.g., Google Maps) provide the user with an estimated commute time for a selected route.